Senior center draws a crowd of candidates

Edward F. Maroney

Friday

Sep 3, 2010 at 2:00 AM

Voters who like to do their electoral shopping early got a three-hour treat Aug. 30 when the Friends of the Barnstable Council on Aging welcomed candidates for Congress and the state Legislature to a forum at the senior center in Hyannis.

Voters who like to do their electoral shopping early got a three-hour treat Aug. 30 when the Friends of the Barnstable Council on Aging welcomed candidates for Congress and the state Legislature to a forum at the senior center in Hyannis.

Hundreds turned out to take the measure of the hopefuls, even those who don’t have a challenger in the Sept. 14 primary. The candidates seemed to enjoy the broader representation of options as well.

Republican Bob Hayden of Hanover decried “federal government spending that’s absolutely out of control. The far left agenda is spending our money. Remember Thelma and Louise, that last scene when the cliff’s approaching and you don’t know whether they’re going to take their foot off the gas pedal?”

When it was his turn at the microphone, fellow congressional candidate Rob O’Leary, a Cummaquid Democrat, said the “problems we face today were long in the making.” It wasn’t Thelma and Louise behind that wheel, he said. “It was Dick Cheney and George Bush driving the car.”

With Barnstable Patriot Editor David Still Ii serving as moderator, the congressional candidates led off the afternoon. Jeff Perry of Sandwich urged constituents to look to his record as a state representative if they wanted to know how he would vote in Congress, noting his nearly solo opposition to the state’s health care reform bill and his continuing efforts to deny taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants.

Ray Kasperowicz, a GOP candidate from Cohasset, said he worried that America “could implode, fail from within, not from a foreign threat. He said his knowledge of tax laws would be helping in reforming the system, which he said threatens to bankrupt some middle-income earners.

Hayden, a self-professed political neophyte, promised to serve only one term if elected. “I find the politicians in Washington have just stopped listening and have become career politicians,” he said.

Former Republican state treasurer Joe Malone of Scituate, who couldn’t attend the forum due to a conflicting commitment, sent former Cape & Islands state Senator Paul Doane in his stead. Doane, a director of the state retirement board when Malone was treasurer, compared him to former President Ronald Reagan as someone who could work with opponents to accomplish his goals. “The bottom line,” he said, “is that we need a Republican elected to Congress, someone to go down there as a moderate Republican and bridge this gap, this gridlock.”

O’Leary, who serves as the Cape & Islands state senator, criticized Republicans for “backing off adult supervision of Wall Street and causing a feeding frenzy.” He said it’s time to get out of Afghanistan, “bring our soldiers home and invest in America.”

Norfolk County DA Bill Keating got to his feet to tell his story, which includes the wartime service of his father and uncle. “We have to put citizenship ahead of partisanship,” the Quincy Democrat said. He promised to “fight to make sure Social Security is not attacked” and to back renewable energy projects to help reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Maryanne Lewis of Scituate, a former state representative, is running as an independent. She cited experience as a homemaker, businessperson, and elected leader who when in office had helped improve the business climate in Massachusetts. “Government’s not bad,” she said, “but bad government is bad.”

Audience members asked the candidates about health care reform and changes in electoral practices.

Senate Match-ups Previewed

Democrats Sheila Lyons and Dan Wolf and Republicans Jim Crocker and Eric Steinhilber, contestants in the Sept. 14 primary, had their turns next.

Harwich resident Wolf, CEO of Cape Air, stressed his commitment to protecting the environment, fostering a strong economy, and maintaining human and social services on Cape Cod. He said seniors face challenges of isolation and mobility as well as limited income and access to health care.

County commissioner Lyons, of Wellfleet, cited her career as a geriatric social worker and subsequent government service. In that latter role, she said, she has the “best knowledge of where we are and where we’re going.”

Barnstable resident Steinhilber, a realtor and development director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, said the state’s out-of-control spending was a danger to future generations. He called for tax cuts across the board and said it’s “time to do what’s right for people, not what’s right for politicians.”

Town Councilor Crocker, also a realtor and Barnstable resident, said the way to protect funding for elder services is to ensure that budget reductions are fair. “If the state budget is cut 1 percent and state aid to towns 3 percent, I wouldn’t vote for that,” he said. Noting that he had served as health care proxy for his late father, Crocker told the audience, “I’m gonna focus on helping you through these issues.”

See You in November

Some of those who attended the forum have no challengers in the primary. Tom Keyes, Republican candidate for the Plymouth & Barnstable state Senate seat and currently deputy speaker of the county Assembly of Delegates, spoke at the forum. His opponent in November, state Senate President Therese Murray, had meetings in Boston and sent a representative who read a statement.

Also speaking were Democratic state Rep. Demetrius Atsalis and his challenger, Republican Jim Munafo, Jr., a Barnstable town councilor. State Rep. Matt Patrick spoke, but the Democrat’s Republican foe David Vieira, had another commitment. The two men vying to succeed Perry as state rep, Republican Randy Hunt and Democrat Lance Lambros, participated also.

The forum was taped by Cape Cod Community Media Center for future showings. Go to http://www.capemedia.org/ for details.

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